Member

And bad news for many as well. I would think that with so many boys cut off from practice until sometime in summer, that most will come back with a loss of skills that will mean they need to repeat their current level. By keeping the May 31 cutoff, many boys will age out of their level, which is especially hard for boys who are probably most likely to quit because the are starting middle or high school. But then again, my kid has been consistently disadvantaged because he has a May bday and when he competes as a 15-16 level 9 even though he is 14, and most of the boys he competes against are physically way more developed than he is. If there was no upper age limit, it would not matter, but that’s not the way it works. I think that by aging up boys who haven’t been in practice for months will be yet another excuse to quit. My own opinion is that since there are upper age limits in boys gymnastics, it would be better if they compete at the age they are at the meet. There’s no real reason not to, and yes, there are boys whose bdays are the day after the cut off, who might compete against boys 364 days younger, but not against kids who are 720 days older, which is an eternity in male development

Moderator

It is always tough. When they get to nationals, it is only a year that they compete against. (so 16 yo, 17 yo, etc)

There will always be an oldest and a youngest. And for the boys, with it being such a small sport, it has bigger age groups. My son went from being toward the younger end, to being one of the oldest. It really didn't change how he did in competition at all.

Next year will be a tough change. I know they are looking at some of the age groups in addition to the change. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Active Member

I wonder why this did not change? Are there other changes that are happening, or are they holding off because it is now not an Olympic year?

My son's coach was sure the age date was changing, and she thought it would be good for my son because he would no longer be the youngest in his age group. (He turns 14 later this month.) But I do not see how it makes that much difference for him? If he competes next year, (a giant if) he will compete as either a 15 year old JD or a 15 year old level 9. I mean, that would not change. Just the age of the kids he competes against would have changed somewhat...right? I get the point that older kids would tend to be more developed, but a recent growth spurt is also a possible disadvantage.
I fear I will never understand sports and age in dates. They just never seem fair, you would think they could come up with a better system.

Moderator

I am guessing with all that is going on, they just decided to wait and do it all next year. This year, the plan was to change age cut offs, and possibly the age ranges for the levels. All code changes were coming next year anyway.

Member

Makes lots of sense to wait given we don’t even have a plan for how competitions will go. For us, we don’t even have a date to reopen the gym, so there’s that too. I’ve just always thought you should either have age group limits or a birth date cut off, but not both. My kid will most likely do 9 again, but as a 16 year old, but the boys who are already doing 9 as 16year olds or 8 as 14 year olds are kind of stuck because even though they have missed out on months of practice there is currently no option for them at all to compete.
Hoping if they do keep the age groups they really encourage gyms to have a JD program. Currently many gyms don’t offer it, or if they do, use it as a lesser level. Promoting JD as kind of it’s own level would at least give all boys a way to compete. Our gym doesn’t do Level 7 or 8. You do JD for 1-2 or 3 years until you are ready for Level 9. Practice hours are the same.. so in our gym in my son’s practice group (which are grouped by age). It’s about half 9 and half JD and they all practice together and learn the same skills.
My son was freaked out about doing 9 last year. His coach told him no problem to do JD again, but he would have to compete as a 15 year old(as a 14 year old), He sees what the older boys on his team were doing as 15-18 year old JD’s , and he said he would rather do 9 because the older JDs had much harder skills.

Active Member

I know that some of our older JD’s throw some huge routines and vaults but it’s usually because they are so behind on other events (aka pommel & rings). Ours are either trying to catch up to in age levels or choosing JD because they want less hours and commitment. I’m guessing JD will be even bigger next year after all the time off. .